Class 9 Science has been rebuilt from the ground up for 2026–27. NCERT published an entirely new textbook — Exploration: Textbook of Science for Grade 9 — in April 2026, replacing the combined Physics-Chemistry-Biology book students have used for years. This isn't a light revision. The old textbook is gone, several familiar chapters have been removed entirely, and for the first time at this grade level, Earth Science is now part of the core syllabus alongside Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
This guide is built around Exploration's confirmed, complete 13-chapter structure — verified consistently across multiple independent sources — along with what's been removed, the new optional Advanced Level track, and a discipline-by-discipline strategy. It also uses the current 2026–27 marks distribution rather than older marks tables based on the previous syllabus structure.
The Complete, Confirmed 13-Chapter List
Exploration integrates four disciplines across 13 chapters — Biology opens the book, Physics and Chemistry follow, and Earth Science closes it as a genuinely new addition:
What's Been Removed — Stop Studying These
Removed from the current Class 9 Science syllabus
- Diversity in Living Organisms (as previously structured) — though a related, reconceived chapter on classification, Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification, does exist in the new book
- Natural Resources
- Why Do We Fall Ill
- Gravitation — no longer part of the current Class 9 chapter list
If you're using older notes, guides, or solved-question banks, these specific chapters may still appear in them. Time spent preparing removed content doesn't contribute to your current exam score — redirect it to the confirmed 13-chapter list above.
An Honest Note on Marks Distribution
The Class 9 Science assessment structure for 2026–27 is 80 marks for the theory examination plus 20 marks for Internal Assessment, making a total of 100 marks.
80 marks · Theory Examination
World of Living carries 27 marks, Matter — Its Nature and Behaviour carries 25 marks, Motion, Force, Work and Sound carries 23 marks, and Earth as a System carries 5 marks.
Internal Assessment — 20 Marks
Preparation takeaway: World of Living and Matter together account for 52 of the 80 theory marks, while Motion, Force, Work and Sound contributes another 23 marks. Earth as a System carries 5 marks, but because it is genuinely new content at this grade level, it should not be ignored simply because its numerical weightage is smaller.
The New Advanced Level Track — Do You Need It?
From 2026–27, Science is offered at two levels, and this is genuinely new — it didn't exist in the old Class 9 Science structure.
Science
The standard Exploration-based course covered in this guide. It builds conceptual understanding across all four integrated disciplines — Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Earth Science.
Science at Advanced Level
An optional advanced-level alternative based on a separate textbook, Science at Advanced Level (Optional), aimed at students who want deeper engagement with Science, including those considering competitive pathways such as JEE or NEET later on.
Important: Science at Advanced Level is not a second compulsory Science paper taken in addition to the standard course. Students take Science or Science at Advanced Level, depending on the option offered and chosen through their school.
This same two-level system extends to Class 10 from the 2027–28 session. If your school does not offer the Advanced Level, or you are enrolled in the standard Science course, this guide's focus on the core 13-chapter Exploration syllabus is what you need.
How to Study an Integrated Textbook Without Losing Structure
Exploration deliberately weaves disciplines together rather than presenting them as separate sections — Biology opens the book, Physics and Chemistry chapters interleave in the middle, and Earth Science closes it. This integration is the whole point of the new design, but it can make revision feel disorganised if you don't build your own structure alongside it.
Tag every chapter by discipline as you study it — Physics, Chemistry, Biology, or Earth Science — even though the textbook doesn't separate them this way. This keeps your revision organised by subject type even as the book itself moves fluidly between them. Prioritise the numerically intensive chapters — Describing Motion, How Forces Affect Motion, Work-Energy-Simple Machines — with careful, step-by-step numerical practice, since these consistently demand the most preparation time. Treat conceptual Biology chapters like Cell, Tissues, and Reproduction with structured, point-based revision rather than long-paragraph memorisation — labelled diagrams matter as much as written explanation here.
A New Textbook Means Old Difficulty Assumptions No Longer Apply
Because Class 9 Science changed so significantly, previous assumptions about which chapters are "usually hard" don't transfer cleanly — several chapters are entirely new (Earth as a System, the reframed classification chapter), and the integrated structure itself is unfamiliar even to teachers still adapting to it.
What a Genelis weak area map looks like for Class 9 Science this term
Next session: Earth as a System (29%) — an entirely new chapter for everyone this year with limited existing practice material. Genelis builds this map automatically without relying on outdated syllabus assumptions.
Genelis is an AI-powered personalized learning platform built on Adaptive Personalized Intelligence. The Genelis learning system tracks your accuracy against the actual current 13-chapter Exploration syllabus, distinguishing genuinely new content from familiar territory. Every wrong answer is logged to your wrong-question notebook, tagged by chapter and discipline, and queued for reattempt.
Learn smarter. Practice deeper. Improve continuously.
Genelis combines Adaptive Personalized Intelligence, AI-generated notes, targeted practice, mock tests, analytics, and personalised revision to help students improve every study session.
Questions Students Commonly Ask
Quick answers to the most common questions related to this guide.
What is the new Class 9 Science textbook for 2026-27?
Exploration: Textbook of Science for Grade 9, published by NCERT in April 2026, replaces the previous combined Class 9 Science textbook entirely. It integrates Physics, Chemistry, and Biology with Earth Science for the first time at this grade level, across 13 chapters, developed under the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023. Any resource still based on the old textbook — which opened with chapters like Matter in Our Surroundings — is describing a discontinued edition.
Which chapters were removed from Class 9 Science for 2026-27?
Diversity in Living Organisms (as previously structured), Natural Resources, and Why Do We Fall Ill have been removed from the Class 9 Science syllabus as part of the shift to the new Exploration textbook. Note that a related, newly reframed chapter on classification — Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification — does still exist in the new book, but it is a different, reconceived chapter rather than a continuation of the old one. Gravitation has also moved out of the current Class 9 chapter list.
What is the Advanced Level in Class 9 Science, and do I need it?
From 2026-27, CBSE offers Science and Science at Advanced Level as two course options in Class 9. The Advanced Level uses the separate Science at Advanced Level (Optional) textbook and is intended for students who want deeper engagement with Science, including those considering competitive pathways such as JEE or NEET later on. It is an optional advanced-level alternative, not a second compulsory Science paper taken in addition to the standard Science course. The two-level system is planned to extend to Class 10 from the 2027-28 session.
What is the exact marks distribution for Class 9 Science 2026-27?
Class 9 Science follows an 80-mark theory paper plus 20 marks of Internal Assessment, for a total of 100 marks. The 80 theory marks are distributed as follows: World of Living — 27 marks; Matter — Its Nature and Behaviour — 25 marks; Motion, Force, Work and Sound — 23 marks; and Earth as a System — 5 marks. The 20-mark Internal Assessment consists of Periodic Assessment — 5 marks, Multiple Assessment — 5 marks, Portfolio — 5 marks, and Subject Enrichment/Practical Work — 5 marks.
How should I study Class 9 Science differently now that it's an integrated subject?
Even though Exploration weaves Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Earth Science together thematically rather than presenting them as separate sections, it still helps to tag each chapter by discipline as you study it, so your revision stays organised even though the textbook doesn't separate them that way. Prioritise chapters involving numerical work — Motion, Forces, Work and Energy — with careful step-by-step practice, and treat conceptual Biology chapters like Cell, Tissues, and Reproduction with structured, point-based revision rather than long-paragraph memorisation.